With the anniversary of #metoo coming up in 10 days, it's a great excuse to point out that historical period drama is the way to set things right for female representation in Hollywood. Finally, there are more and more films starring women as leads, and a lot of them do turn to history - for very good reasons. On the Basis of Sex is the most obvious upcoming Hollywood attempt to repair the damage done over the years to how women appear in blockbusters - thanks to the universally beloved in 2018 Felicity Jones, this one actually has a chance of being seen by people who aren't period drama lovers, but also just enjoy watching her on screen.
However, it is far from the first historical film that follows a story of a strong woman, or explores the themes of feminism, women's rights and equality. Most of the period dramas offer some sort of commentary on these themes and, I daresay, the best feminist films belong to historical/period drama genre. And there are numerous examples.
All of Jane Austen's adaptations - some more well-known than others - offer many female perspectives, countless characters and archetypes and a witty, light-hearted and not aggressive at all commentary on patriarchal society, gender roles and restrictions. Pride & Prejudice offers the whole palette of examples - what is most praised in a woman and how being born a woman was a significant disadvantage in 19th century from the legal point of view, why women have a rotten reputation of love-chasers and gold-diggers, how social rules and things young girls were told about love end up getting them in trouble - because believing that every man that lays his eyes on you truly loves you is not a great way to protect a young woman from self-serving men, whose behavior can ruin her reputation forever - yet he can still get away with it, unpunished.
Tess of d'Urbervilles addresses all the same problems: how being raped is perceived as the woman's fault. Despite the fact that the society teaches women to be gentle, not argue with men, especially their betters, to be timid and obedient, and that gentlemen will marry them because that's what they have to do. So when a young woman believes all these things and follows the rules, she is the one who ends up with ruined reputation, despised and cast out by her friends and family (apart from going through her traumatic experience in the first place).
The Scandalous Lady W also follows the story of the obedient wife who seeks to satisfy her husband's sexual fantasies, even if that means sleeping with other men. The film portrays a rare woman who embraces the society's criticism and 'values' (that a woman who's slept with other men apart from her husband is 'spoilt goods' and 'worthless') and throws it back in her husband's face.
A similar storyline exists in The Duchess - Georgiana Cavendish is a politically active woman who attempts to fight back against the expectations and takes a lover, just like her husband. However, neither the society nor her husband let her do it - by threatening separation from her children. And she is not the only woman being treated like that by her own husband - her best friend lady Bess becomes the duke's lover in her attempt to escape domestic abuse and be reunited with her sons. If you can't fight the system, what else can you do? Use the system and the rules created by these men against them - until you find another way.
Anne Boleyn is famous for being fluent in the art of manipulation and getting what she wanted from men. The Other Boleyn Girl, Wolf Hall, The Tudors - all include her character and her ascend to power by using the existing system. In the world where men treated women as playthings and means to their sexual satisfaction or getting a male heir, women used that same sexuality and seeming 'chastity' to gain control of their lives and earn a living.
Moll Flanders - another film based on a novel that follows the woman who in modern cinema is probably closest to Intolerable Cruelty's gold-digger Marilyn. Of course, many women in history and characters in period drama didn't go down that path.
In Hidden Figures, all three main heroines don't use their sexuality - partly because they're not in Middle ages anymore and are on the way to becoming fully respectable and lawful citizens of America. Amazing progress, huh? Of course, not without trouble: being a scientist and fighting in court for your rights, especially being a woman of colour on top of just 'weaker gender' makes things so much harder. But they succeed, because one's achievements and will aren't actually dependent on reproductive organs.
There's also a whole subgenre dedicated to female royalty films & television series: the recent Victoria with Jenna Coleman and The Crown with Claire Foley, Elizabeth with Cate Blanchett, Mary, Queen of Scots with Saoirse Ronan and Margot Robbie and Victoria and Abdul with Judi Dench, The White Queen & The White Princess. Not even counting all of the different older movies, BBC adaptations and lesser-known black and white films, the recent films star the most popular and well-known actresses - and definitely doing a great job of promoting the strongest and most independent women in history.
But it's not even about female leads and strong women storylines.
Period drama has always offered a rich background and emotional palette for supporting female characters - Demelza from Poldark has better character development arc than the villain and even the main hero, The Imitation Game gives Keira Knightley a worthy role to play and Kristen Scott Thomas in Darkest Hour plays exactly the kind of female character you can introduce in any Hollywood movie or a blockbuster without making it 'too feminist'. Black Sails has some of the best female characters I'd seen on television (and TV is generally way more progressive than Hollywood films are when it comes to writing female characters).
In fact, feature film writers should definitely watch more high quality television - and, quite possibly, female character writing will suddenly start to make sense. Game of Thrones, despite being accused of sexism (which it does not promote whatsoever - I'd argue it actively highlights sexism in medieval society and shocks the audience for the right purpose), has some of the strongest females in television history. House of Cards, Breaking Bad, Billions - all the most modern high quality tv drama is fluent in feminist scriptwriting.
But if you want a feature film still - well, there are plenty of examples that can help Hollywood introduce #metoo themes into their summer blockbusters. They just need to remember where to look.
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